In smokers, Sonic hedgehog modulates pulmonary endothelial function through vascular endothelial growth factor

Respiratory Research

Table 1 General characteristics and lung function measurements

Characteristics	Smokers (n = 34)	Never smokers (n = 8)	p
Age, years (mean ± SEM, range)	64 ± 8 [49–87]	56 ± 25 [23–83]	NS
Male/Female ratio	20/14	6/2	NS
Current smokers, n	17	NA	NA
Tobacco, pack-years (mean ± SEM, range)	42 ± 25 [10–110]	NA	NA
COPD	4	0	NS
GOLD stage 1, n	3	0	NS
GOLD stage 2, n	1	0	NS
GOLD stage 3, n	0	0
GOLD stage 4, n	0	0
Prior chemotherapy, n	4	1	NS
Hypercholesterolemia, n	4	0	NS
Hypertension, n	5	1	NS
Diabetes mellitus, n	0	0	NS
Treatment with statins, n	2	0	NS
Treatment with vasodilators, n	4	0	NS

Pack-years: number of cigarette packs smoked per day multiplied by the number of years of smoking
COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, defined by post bronchodilator FEV1/FVC < 70% (where FEV1 is the forced expiratory volume in 1 s and FVC is the forced vital capacity), GOLD Global Initiative for Chronic Lung Disease - 2011, NS not significant, NA not appliable

ISSN: 1465-993X